San Jose: Appeals court halts city's push to overturn Measure B

SAN
JOSE -- In a major victory to former Councilman Pete Constant and a
defeating blow to his one-time ally, Mayor Sam Liccardo, a court on
Wednesday put the brakes on the city repealing Measure B -- the pension
reform initiative voters overwhelmingly approved in 2012.

"I'm happy the court agreed that the council cannot move forward
in such a rushed manner -- trying to push things through before the
court process was completed," Constant said Wednesday.

Constant, along with the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association and
businessman Charles Munger, Jr., have legally challenged the city's
quest to nullify Measure B through a court proceeding.

Constant, who championed Measure B along with Liccardo, said any
changes to the initiative must go back out to voters.

The city last year
reached settlements during closed-door meetings with employee unions
who filed numerous lawsuits against the measure, saying it was an
assault on their rights.

Liccardo and the current City Council pushed to replace Measure B
with the settlement framework -- but without consent from voters who
approved it.

"All we've asked for is that residents be given the right to vote
on the settlement between the city and the unions," Constant said. "We
believe that right rests solely with the residents."

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Beth McGowen didn't agree.
She issued two separate rulings denying Constant's plea and siding with
the city in its attempt to wipe Measure B off the books.

Union leaders applauded the move, saying it allows them to begin
rebuilding a workforce that was depleted from hundreds of employees
resigning after pension reform.

Constant and his group appealed
and the court Wednesday granted a stay in the case -- stopping all
proceedings to reconsider the case. Both sides have until May 23 to
submit their arguments.

The highly-charged issue pitted Liccardo
against Constant, one of the mayor's closest political confidants, and
led to an accelerated push from City Hall to overturn Measure B.

One
day after Constant gave Liccardo a "heads up" courtesy call about his
intent to file court papers to stop the city's process of repealing the
measure, the mayor called an emergency closed-session meeting to sign
off on the city's court documents.

Then on Tuesday, the City
Council voted 10-1 to declare the resolution that put Measure B on the
ballot "null and void due to a procedural defect." The item was placed
on the council agenda late Friday afternoon -- forgoing the standard
10-day notice required by the city's "sunshine" ordinance.

City
Attorney Rick Doyle says that action is now on hold, pending the outcome
of the appeal. But the council will not rescind Tuesday's vote, he
added.

"The court is basically putting things on hold until it
gets the opportunity to decide the petition," Doyle said. "Everyone
needs to take a deep breath. I'm confident they'll uphold Judge
McGowen's decision as the right decision."

But what's at stake by
another speed bump in the Measure B saga? Lost time and the potential of
missing a looming deadline. The City Council must finalize a ballot
measure related to Measure B by August to make it on the November
ballot. If it misses that deadline, the city must wait another two years
to ask voters about pension reform.